Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Redistribution of Mercury from Contaminated Lake Sediments of Clear Lake, California

  • Published:
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mining operations conducted at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine at Clear Lake, California, from 1872–1957, together with acid mine drainage since abandonment, deposited ca. 100 metric tons of mercury (Hg) in the sediments of Clear Lake. In 1992 Hg in surficial sediments (up to 183 mg kg-1 total Hg and 15.9 μg kg-1 methyl Hg) exhibited a classic point source distribution with maximum concentrations adjacent to the mine. However, the ratio of methyl:total Hg in sediments increased with distance from the mine, suggesting either differential transport of methyl Hg or a non-linear relationship between sediment inorganic Hg concentrations and methylation. Water exhibited an even more gradual decline in total Hg concentrations with distance from the mine, in both unfiltered bottom water (max. ca. 70 ng L-1) and filtered surface water (max. ca. 7 ng L-1). In comparison with other studies, Clear Lake exhibits high total Hg in sediment and water, yet relatively low methyl Hg concentrations. Our findings indicate a non-linearity between total and methyl Hg concentrations in sediments. The ratio of methyl:inorganic Hg is approximately 2 orders of magnitude higher in the water column than in the sediments, making the methyl fraction much more available for down-gradient transport away from the mine. Particulate Hg comprises ca. 33–94% of the total Hg and ca. 25–78% of the methyl Hg in the water column. Geothermal springs do not appear to represent a significant source of Hg to Clear Lake. The present pattern of Hg distribution in Clear Lake shows that water column transport plays some role in the lake-wide contamination of methyl Hg, but high methylation at relatively low inorganic Hg concentrations cannot be ruled out. No quantitative estimate of the area of sediments requiring remediation is possible from these descriptive data alone.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, R. J.: 1986, The Role of Particulate Matter in the Fate of Contaminants in Aquatic Ecosystems, Scientific Series No. 142, Inland Waters Directorate, National Water Research Institute, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, Ontario, 128 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bale, A. E.: 1995, ‘Modeling Mercury Transport and Transformation in the Aquatic Environment', Ph. D. Dissertation, University of California, Davis, 224 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benham, J. R.: 1993, ‘Water Sampling and Analytical Results from the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund Site, Lake County, California, Symposium Proceedings from the 10th National Meeting of the American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation, Spokane, WA, May 16–19, 1993, pp. 165–174.

  • Berman, M. and Bartha, R.: 1986, Environ. Pollut. 11, 41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, N. S.: 1989, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 46(7), 1131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, N. S. and Crecelius, E. A.: 1987, Mar. Chem. 21, 377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cossa, D., Martin, J. M. and Sanjuan, J.: 1994a, Mar. Poll. Bull. 28(6), 381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cossa, D., Sanjuan, J. and Noel, J.: 1994b, Mar. Poll. Bull. 28(6), 385.

    Google Scholar 

  • CVRWQCB (Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board): 1987, Regional Mercury Assessment. Policies, Standards, and Special Studies Unit of the CVRWQCB.

  • Chamberlin, C. E., Chaney, R., Finney, B., Hood, M., Lehman, P., McKee, M. and Willis, R.: 1990, Abatement and Control Study: Sulphur Bank Mine and Clear Lake. Prepared for the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Environmental Resources Engineering Department, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, G. D., Welch, E. B., Peterson, S. A. and Newroth, P. R.: 1993, Restoration and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs, Second Edition. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, 548 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elser, J. J. and Goldman, C. R.: 1991, Limnol. Oceanogr. 36, 64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, G. A. and Bruland, K. W.: 1990, Environ. Sci. Technol. 24(9), 1302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, G. A. and Fitzgerald, W. F.: 1987, Deep-Sea Res. 32, 287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmour, C. C. and Henry, E. A.: 1991, Environ. Pollut. 71, 131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmour, C. C., Henry, E. A. and Mitchell, R.: 1992, Environ. Sci. Technol. 26, 2281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmour, C. C. and Riedel, G. S.: 1995, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 80, 747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, C. R. and Horne, A. J.: 1983, Limnology, McGraw Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustin, M. S., Taylor, G. E., Jr., Leonard, T. L.: 1994, Environ. Health Perspect. 102, 722.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry, E. A., Dodge-Murphy, L. J., Bigham, G. N., Klein, S. M. and Gilmour, C. C.: 1995, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 80, 509.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T. A. and Woychuk, R. N.: 1980 in Restoration of Lakes and Inland Waters (Proc. Int. Symp. on Inland Waters and Lake Restoration, EPA/OECD (Portland, Maine, 8-12 Sept., 1980), U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D. C. pp. 93–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T. A., Parks, J. W., Jones, P. D., Woychuk, R. N., Sutton, J. A. and Hollinger, J. D.: 1982, Hydrobiologia 92, 473.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, P., Stringer R. French, M. C. and Vallette, J.: 1991, Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 46, 74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korthals, E. T. and Winfrey, M. R.: 1987, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53, 2397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y.H, and Hultberg, H.: 1990, Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 9, 833.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lodenius, M.: 1991, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 56, 323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, M. G.: 1996, ‘Seasonal Variations in Lake Mixing, Clear Lake, California', Dissertation. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parman, H. and Meili, M: 1993, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 50, 521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parks, J. W. and Hamilton, A. L.: 1987, Hydrobiologia 149, 159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parks, J. W., Sutton, J. A., Lutz, A.: 1986, Can. Sci. 43, 1426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfeiffer, W. C., Lacerda, L. D., Salomons, W. and Malm, O.: 1993, Environ. Rev. 1, 26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rada, R. G., Powell, D. E. and Wiener, J. G.: 1993, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 50, 865.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richerson, P. J., Suchanek, T. H. and Why, S. J.: 1994, The Causes and Control of Algal Blooms in Clear Lake: Clean Lakes Diagnistic/Feasibility Study for Clear Lake, California, Final Report to Lake County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, CA State Water Resources Control Board and USEPA. ca. 200 pp.

  • Robertson, D. E., Sclarew, D. S., Olson, K. B., Bloom, N. S., Crecelius, E. A., Apts, C. W.: 1987, ‘Measurement of Bioavailable Mercury Species in Freshwater and Sediments’ Research Project 2020-3, Final Report, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories.

  • Rudd, J. W. M.: 1995, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 80, 697.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudd, J. W. M., Turner, M. A., Furutani, A., Swick, A. L. and Townsend, B. E.: 1983, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 40, 2206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sas, H (ed.): 1989, Lake Restoration by Reduction of Nutrient Loading, Expectations, Experiences, Extrapolations, St. Augustin: Academia Verlag Richarz. 497 pp.

  • Sims, J. D. and White, D. E.: 1981, in McLaughlin and Donnelly (eds.), Research In the Geysers – Clear Lake Geothermal Area in Northern California, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper # 1141. pp. 237–241.

  • Suchanek, T. H., Richerson, P. J., Woodward, L. A., Slotton, D. G., Holts, L. J. and Woodmansee, C. E.: 1993, A Survey and Evaluation of Mercury in: Sediment, Water, Plankton, Periphyton, Benthic Invertebrates and Fishes within the Aquatic Ecosystem of Clear Lake, California, Report Prepared for EPA Region IX. Ecological Assessment: Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund Site, Clear Lake, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchanek, T. H., Richerson, P. J., Holts, L. J., Lamphere, B. A., Woodmansee, C. E., Slotton, D. G., Harner, E. J. and Woodward, L. A.: 1995, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 80, 951.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchanek, T.H., Richerson, P. J., Mullen, L. H., Brister, L. L., Becker, J.C., Maxson, A. and Slotton, D. G.: 1997, Interim Final Report: The Role of the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Site (and Associated Hydrogeological Processes) in the Dynamics of Mercury Transport and Bioaccumulation Within the Clear Lake Aquatic Ecosystem. Report to the USEPA Superfund Program, Region IX (January 1997), 478 pp.

  • Suchanek, T. H., Lamphere, B. A., Mullen, L. H., Woodmansee, C. E., Richerson, P. J., Slotton, D. G., Woodward, L. A. and Harner, E. J.: 1998, Mercury in Lower Trophic Levels of the Clear Lake Aquatic Ecosystem, California, in K. M. Scow (ed.), Integrated Assessment of Ecosystem Health. Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea, MI (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Verta, M. and Matilainen, T.: 1995, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 80, 585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watras, C. J., Bloom, N. S., Crecelius, E. A., Cutter, G. A. and Gill, G. A.: 1991, Proceedings of the International Conference on Measuring Waterborne Trace Substances, August 28–30, 1990, Baltimore, MD. Electric Power Research Institute/The National Institute for Standards and Technology.

  • Watras, C. J. (and 21 others): 1994, in C. J. Watras and J. Huckabee (eds.), Mercury Pollution: Integration and Synthesis, Lewis Pub., Boca Raton, FL. pp. 153–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wayne, D. M., Warwick, J. J., Lechler, P. J., Gill, G. A., and Lyons, W. B.: 1996. Water, Air, Soil Pollut. 92, 391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilken, R. D. and Hintelman, H.: 1991, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 56, 427.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. B. A. Lamphere

    Present address: , Philadelphia, PA, 19130, U.S.A

  2. C. E. Woodmansee

    Present address: , Ukiah, CA, 95482, U.S.A

  3. L. A. Woodward

    Present address: USFWS, Box 50088, Honolulu, HI, 96850, U.S.A. E-mail

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Environmental Studies, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, U.S.A

    T. H. Suchanek, L. H. Mullen, B. A. Lamphere, P. J. Richerson, C. E. Woodmansee, D. G. Slotton & L. A. Woodward

  2. U.C. Davis – Clear Lake Research Center, 3095 Willow Road, Kelseyville, CA, 95451, U.S.A

    L. H. Mullen

  3. Department of Statistics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26505, U.S.A

    E. J. Harner

Authors
  1. T. H. Suchanek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. H. Mullen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. A. Lamphere
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P. J. Richerson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. C. E. Woodmansee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. D. G. Slotton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. E. J. Harner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. L. A. Woodward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Suchanek, T.H., Mullen, L.H., Lamphere, B.A. et al. Redistribution of Mercury from Contaminated Lake Sediments of Clear Lake, California. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 104, 77–102 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004980026183

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004980026183

Search

Navigation